Lyon won seven consecutive league titles from 2002 to 2008.
Relegated to Ligue 2 due to a debt of over €500 million.
Spent €150 million on transfers, including Nuam and Niakate.
Restructuring with a focus on young players and affiliations.
Goal to recover €100 million in the winter transfer market.
Targeted investments in talent to increase squad value.
First trophy won: Europa League after a long period of difficulty.
Lyon’s strategy is based on a mix of investments and affiliations to create value through “player trading,” targeting young talents. This approach helps reduce debt and improve on-field performance.
Financial management is crucial: the €500 million debt represents a significant challenge, but a structured plan can lead to positive long-term results.
Affiliations allow the club to send young players on loan, fostering growth and optimizing profits through future sales. This system has been successfully tested in other contexts.
The blocked January transfer market forces Lyon to strategically plan operations for the summer, increasing pressure to secure results through investments in youth and affiliations for player trading.
The video made by LucullusGames, an Italian FM streamer, explores the reconstruction of Olympique Lyonnais in Football Manager 2024, focusing on leveraging affiliations for player trading and strategies to reduce the club’s debt. Through a series of steps and analyses, the creator demonstrates how to invest in young talents, send them on loan, and generate profits, with the ultimate goal of restoring the club to success.
We started from the day Lyon’s potential relegation to Ligue 2 was confirmed. The transfer market was blocked for a year, and the owner, Textor, decided to list the club on the stock exchange to inject €100 million. In the game, this is not a feature we could simulate, so we decided to sell all players over the age of 23 during the January transfer window. By doing so, we managed to raise €100 million without spending any funds. For each season played, we decided to limit spending on player transfers to no more than €5–7 million per signing and to cap wages at €1 million per contract. We enforced Lyon’s relegation to Ligue 2 by imposing a 100-point penalty. Thanks to the use of affiliations and player trading, we managed to clear the club’s €500 million debt within five seasons. We strengthened the scouting network by sending scouts worldwide through research areas instead of targeting individual nations. The most interesting aspect of using affiliations is that, in the event of sudden departures, we don’t need to spend money on new signings but can recall loaned-out players already owned by the club.
Below is a list of clubs added as affiliates. Note that some were already affiliated with Lyon, as they are partially or fully owned by the same owner (e.g., Crystal Palace and Botafogo).
Botafogo
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening
Crystal Palace
FC Twente
FK Vojvodina Novi Sad
Legia Warsaw
NK Domžale
PAOK Thessaloniki
Royal Antwerp FC
RWD Molenbeek
SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz
Vitória SC (Vitória de Guimarães)
Villarreal CF
Key Points:
Current situation of Lyon:
Olympique Lyon, a historically successful french club, faces a financial crisis with over €500 million in debt. The club is compelled to restructure its finances to avoid further relegation.
Rebuilding plan:
The plan involves investing in young talents, sending them on loans, and monetizing sales. The goal is to eliminate debt within five years and return to the top of French football.
Use of affiliations:
The video introduces a structured approach to utilizing affiliations by loaning young players to affiliated clubs, developing them, and reclaiming improved footballers.
Investments and sales:
The aim is to generate €100 million in player sales during the winter transfer market, focusing on valuable players with growth potential to boost the club’s finances.
Market strategy:
The creator adopts a cautious market strategy, seeking to acquire low-cost talents that can be sold for profit in the future, maximizing the effectiveness of investments.
Installation Instructions
1) Extract the contents of downloaded .rar file with a tool such as WinRar or 7Zip (Unarchiver for Mac)
2) Move the .fmf file to your "editor data" folder, by default located at:
/Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2024/editor data
(Create the folder if it doesn't already exist)
3) Start a new career game with this database and make sure that '' FRANCE Promotions & relegations.fmf '' is ticked.
If you have any problem, difficulty or want to report a bug, just send me a message here or leave a comment!
For playing with OL with the 2024/25 actual players and teams, I’ve modified and changed this database, available here in the original form:
FM24 Transfers & Data Update Packs by TheNotoriousPr0 + FMTU
I really hope you have as much fun as I do taking Lyon back to the top of France.:
Discussion: Lyon rebuild | Strategies for player trading in FM 24
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